Chapter 94

[ALEX]

Dominic’s opinions usually held value, but today, they irritated me. “You need to make a decision about the prisoner,” he reminded me. For some reason, Dominic held an absolute distaste for her, to the point where he refused to even call her by her name. She was simply “the prisoner.” “She’s been here a week.”

A week. She had been here for a week.

I was supposed to visit her, as I had on the first night, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so.

“I can’t decide about her until the PI learns more about her boyfriend,” I gritted my teeth, striving to keep the venom from my voice.

“Sir, he’s scanned her file three times. There’s no trace of a boyfriend. He even followed up on past connections; they were all dead ends.”

I clenched my jaw. “She had no reason to lie to me. For all we know, this boyfriend is the one who sent her to spy.”

Anger had been simmering inside me for a week, growing like poisonous ivy. Every day, I resolved to see if she was alive. Every day, I failed. Looking at her face reminded me of the man she was protecting, the lover I couldn’t find, and it stung.

I wasn’t incapable. If he were an ordinary man, there was nowhere on earth he could hide where I wouldn’t find and eliminate him.

Unless… either he didn’t exist. Or he’s not just somebody. He’s powerful enough to cover his tracks, and probably powerful enough to come for her.

I stiffened, realizing I had completely ignored my second-in-command. “What do you suggest, Sir?”

“Protocol, in situations like this, is to alert the Pakhan,” he replied.

“What do you think would happen if I did that?”

“He would… kill her,” Dominic said without hesitation. “That’s the punishment for trying to cross the Mafia.”

“Hm.” I pondered, my eyes flickering to him. “I thought you, of all people, were against shedding innocent blood.”

“Except she isn’t innocent,” he reminded me.

“If she has a boyfriend, and he’s the one who sent her to spy, she’s the only link to him,” I commented. “Killing her would be stupid, don’t you think?”

He didn’t reply, only nodded stiffly.

“Which is why news of her presence won’t leave this house, and won’t reach Uncle Damien. Are we clear?”

“Clear.” He nodded again. “And Hammal called again.”

“I told her you were busy, as you requested—for the fourth time this week.”

I nodded.

VA 11:08 Tue, Jun 11 M.

Chapter 94 (continued)

He hesitantly added, “She mentioned she’d come to your house if you didn’t call her back this time.”

I shook my head, rising from my chair. A decision I’d been forcing upon myself was suddenly made. “I’m going upstairs; don’t let anyone disturb me.”

“Even if Hannah shows up?” he asked.

“Especially if Hannah shows up.”

Mia’s room was filled with sunlight streaming through the windows. She stared out, her back to me. I’d asked someone to fill her wardrobe with clothes her size, but she was still wearing the same ones from a week ago.

“It’s Sunday, isn’t it, Lana?” she asked, without turning around, her voice heavy with sadness. Lana was the girl I’d assigned to bring her meals every day and check on her periodically when the sounds from her room faded.

“I suppose it is,” I replied, and she flinched before turning.

“You,” she said, her voice accusatory. Despite the distance, I noticed her slight tremor, the wobble of her lower lip.

“Are you sad, cupcake?” I asked, no genuine concern in my voice.

She gulped.

“It is Sunday,” I said. “Is someone waiting for you?”

Her breathing became shaky.

“Oh, so there is.” I walked into her room, closing the door behind me. “Your boyfriend, huh?”

She didn’t answer, only breathed and glared at me as if angry.

Finally, she asked, “Why are you here?”

“My house,” I reminded her.

“Right.” She scoffed, a whisper.

“Are you angry, perhaps, cupcake?” Even trying, I couldn’t hide the amusement in my voice. She looked like a small chicken wielding a knife.

“You brought me here and left me,” she accused. “I have nothing to do. Nothing. And I’m going crazy. There are six hundred and thirty-two daisies in the bathroom wallpaper. There are one hundred tiles on the floor of this room. You have thirty-seven guards patrolling this side of your house, and sixteen more appear at midnight. And now I’ve run out of things to count. I—I have nothing to do.”

I licked my lips. “And here I thought you must be daydreaming about your boyfriend.”

“If you don’t want to let me go, please put me to work,” she pleaded. “I’ll cook; I’m good at that. I’ve seen plenty of Mafia movies. You usually have a feast prepared every day, even though you basically dine alone, right? That’s how it works in the movies.”